Des Moines Botanical Center.

This afternoon Kley and I went to visit the Botanical Garden. We went because I am on a kick to do everything in Des Moines that we haven't done before we move later this year (I had been there several times, but Kley hadn't), and also because I had gotten two free passes from a teacher's appreciation coupon thing.

Here's my own personal review: It's cool and interesting to see, but it won't blow you out of the water. It's very pretty, but also not very large and won't take long to experience the whole thing (definitely not more than an hour, unless you really really love looking at plants and want to linger looking at each thing). We walked through in about 25 minutes- Kley wasn't that impressed, but didn't hate it either. All in all, I'm glad we went. :)

Here are some of my shots. Enjoy and Happy Saturday!

(I really like taking flower pictures!)

Memorial weekend days.

This Monday was Memorial Day, and my usual day off is Tuesday (since we work 4 ten hour days), so that means I got a four day weekend! It was wonderful.

First off, thank you for everyone who has and is serving our country. Your sacrifice for our freedom is amazing.

Here are some things we did over the weekend:
Drove to Minneapolis and back for my brother's college graduation from Bethel
Visited with my grandparents
Slept in
Went to the late service at church
Mini-golfed with Kley and I BEAT HIM for the first time ever
Ate Orange Leaf and they had my favorite flavor- white chocolate strawberry
Rode bikes (it's been so long since I have been on a bike)
Spent many hours cleaning out my old bedroom at my parents
Watched the season 10 finale of Grey's Anatomy
Watched a few episodes of season 1 of Alias
Read
Spent almost a full day registering for baby things for our sweet arrival coming soon!

It was a glorious few days off. A good time away from work.

My brother graduated!

Friday/Saturday we made an extremely quick trip to Minneapolis to see my brother, Keaton, graduate from Bethel! It was a fun time and I am so glad we were able to go. My parents, sister Kayla, Kley and I, and my grandparents (dad's side) were all there. My sister, Karlie, is on a nursing trip in Tanzania currently, so she was not able to come.

Here he is walking in!

The keynote speaker.

Almost his turn!

Announcing his name.

Walking the stage.

Getting his diploma. (I was actually pretty impressed with how these turned out- my camera doesn't have the longest zoom and doesn't do the best with moving shots.)

Keaton and his girlfriend, Rose.

Kley, Kayla, me, Keaton, and Rose.

Grandparents and Keaton.

Parents and Keaton.

Kley and I (and our little baby bump!)

Congratulations Keaton! You did it! Enjoy this time!

Monday is also Memorial Day, so yay for the long weekend!

When enough is enough.

Today I didn't feel at the top of my game. It wasn't a bad day by any means, just long.

I am a perfectionist, so letting something slip, forgetting something, or not feeling like I'm on top of everything I should be is a struggle for me. I don't like feeling that way. The most sinful, yet true, way to put it is that I like to appear as perfect as I can.

Not that being on top of your game is bad. It's truly not. But it can go too far. I also need to embrace the fact that I am a sinner, who does mess up frequently. It's true that I like to be organized and manage all that I have to do well, but I need to be sure that I am being that way for HIS GLORY and nothing else.

Last night I had my women's Bible study, which was good, but that goes later than my usual bedtime, and we stayed up late watching a show together because I wanted some time to connect with Kley. Then I woke up crying, 15 minutes before my alarm, because I had an awful dream. I was crying in my dream and I woke up actually crying. Not the best start to the day.

Nothing about today was bad, but near the end I just felt like I was doing too much. Especially with being pregnant, I need to do a better job sometimes of realizing when I need to call it quits for the day. Working 10 hour days can be long. I also went to the grocery store after work, and agreed to help a friend with something they asked me to do.

I am so happy that I was able to help a friend, but I admit that I was having a few grumpy thoughts as I was doing it after a long day, and I was feeling hungry, tired, and sore. Then Kley made an innocent comment, that meant no harm, about the noodles as part of dinner tasting different than normal, and I lost it and started crying at the table. (He honestly meant nothing bad, so thank you, Kley, for appreciating my cooking. :)

Also, as another side note, I forgot to print something that I sent my coworker to the printer to get for me. I also mixed up the date on the library books I was supposed to return last week. And I said that there weren't 31 days in May, which there clearly are. Oops.

I started the day crying and ended the day crying. But I guess some days are like that.

God is using this day to teach me that it's okay to not be perfect. It's okay to know your limits. It's okay to call it quits when you need to. Thank you, Lord, for grace.

Sometimes you just need to realize when enough is enough.

And, thankfully...there will always be another sunrise in the morning. :)

Mother's Day Fail.

Mother's Day Fail

This video really isn't that funny, but I think it's so hilarious. Maybe because I work with kids and completely understand how much kids drop/spill things. Just look how full the fruit bowl is...you knew what was coming. :)

Mother's Day 2014.

Happy Mother's Day! We are blessed to have encouraging, selfless, and loving moms. My own mom, and my mother-in-law, are the best! They both have so many qualities that I hope I can possess for our little one coming soon!

Oh the weekend.

This weekend was pretty good. Friday night my parents, sisters, and I went to Mom's Night Out. You should all go see it! My sister, Karlie, was home after college for the weekend before she leaves for Africa on a nurses mission trip for a month. 

Saturday morning/early afternoon we went to my sister Kayla's volleyball tournament. She's #3 and she's pretty awesome. :) Unfortunately, my camera's zoom and quick time is not best for capturing sports action shots.

After the tournament, we went to Gusto Pizza Co. for lunch. I was excited because I saw this list of the 15 best restaurants in Des Moines, and Kley and I's goal was to eat at all of them before we moved. We had already been to about half, so we have a few left! Unfortunately, Kley missed all these events. His dad, Brad, came down for Friday night/Saturday to help him study for his finals this week, which was super nice of him.

Saturday afternoon/evening Brad and Kley were studying, so I worked hard on conference forms. It wasn't much fun for a Saturday, but I'm glad I got a lot of work done! Today we went to church, did a few more conference reports, took a nap, and now we are headed to my parents for dinner!

Happy weekends!